Original Character: Fugita
by Holmgren
Summary: Puppet master from the land of wind is sent to Konoha to strengthen the peace treaty.
1. Fugita

Io is feared. He is rightfully so, because he is a force to be reckoned with. His strength is immense, and he seems invulnerable to harm. Deceivingly intelligent with his huge toothy grin, there is one flaw he has that next to nobody knows… he's not real. Io is the creation of the Gon family's newest and brightest warrior, Fugita.

His entire family has been known for its great skills in engineering great machines since there founding many years ago in the village of sand, but Fugita decided to use his skills to become a great ninja. Even being an albino didn't stop him from fighting for his goals. He fine tuned many mechanisms created by his father, and his father before him, and created Watsuki, the bladed one. Watsuki was a puppet the size of a large man, taking the form of a fully armed and armored white samurai. Until he was able to control his chakra enough to form chakra strings, Fugita used his own steel wires to learn to maneuver his creation. He hardly left his workshop, spending his time tinkering with new mechanisms while fixing old ones instead of working his tiajutsu. Because of his odd behaviors and diet, he became sickly and weak. Without enough sun and nutrients, his body was failing him, but he wouldn't let his mind stop. His superiors forced him into medical care, and there he worked on new designs for his next work while being treated. It was thought that if he didn't get into better habits with his health he wouldn't become a good ninja, but Fugita knew that his ideas would be wasted if he didn't spend every waking moment he could working with his inventions.

His skin pale and delicate to sunlight, Fugita always wore a cloak-like outfit with hat and mask to protect him from the sun. The sun wouldn't really do that much damage to him in the short term, but overexposure would prove very painful and, if left too long, fatal. For this reason, he had to wear these strange looking clothes, but Fugita soon learned that he could use them to his advantage in battle. Not only would he be able to hide his identity, but he would also be able to conceal weapons in the cloak, making any who underestimated him regret ever doing so. Being that he was still weak from ill habits in eating and sleeping, Fugita relied heavily on Watsuki to win his battles for him; with a lot hard work, he'd made him very fast, sturdy, and deadly. Watsuki was virtually indestructible, being made of armor, and he was almost nothing but hidden blades and other weapons. What looked like a great mane on the suit of Watsuki was actually a large number of long ejecting needles, some poisoned, and every joint could be dislocated and produce a sword, knife, or a launched bladed weapon. Just using poison and blades, Watsuki usually could win Fugita's battles easily, but in a desperate measure, Watsuki could detonate himself, launching all of his concealed weapons in every direction, and then rebuild himself.

Still feeling insecure about relying on a single puppet, Fugita decided to build a second one with his new designs. But he was determined to do something his family had not seen before, and made an all new kind of puppet. By increasing the size of the mechanisms and spending a lot of time on the defenses, Fugita created Io #1. Io #1 was just a suit of minor armor that would protect Fugita from most damage and protecting his identity. After some test runs with his team mates, he learned that his first model was simply too slow and heavy, while not really doing anything, so he continued his research and experiments.

Finally, Fugita was finished. It took him almost an entire year, but he created Io #2. Io was now more human looking, bigger and badder than ever. He looked . . . well . . . dumb (according to his peers). And that was perfect. The stupidly huge grin on Io's face was taken into great thought by Fugita. Not only did it distract most people at a glance, but it also acted as the doorway into Io's interior. Inside was more armor, tools, and devises than could be counted. The outside was made mostly out of a new form of rubber that was created just for Io. It was a texture very close to flesh, but was almost indestructible, impervious to heat and electricity, waterproof, and easy to mend if ever damaged. Realizing that his chakra strings could not possibly move this behemoth, Fugita resorted to using strong steel cables to move Io about, but the gears and pulleys made the functioning conceivable. After much needed practice, Fugita was able to maneuver Io faster that his teammates. With his long gorilla-like arms and legs, and his ridiculously huge hands and feet, Io was able to travel extremely quickly by jumping like a frog or running on his feet and his knuckles. Still, he was able to be as slow and gentle as a woman cradling a baby.

Using Io as his body, he would convince his opponent that he was a very strong, sturdy, dumb ninja. After a bit of fighting, Watsuki would be released, and it would "become clear" that Io was actually a puppet master. The double bluff, keeping enemy ninja from suspecting Io of being a puppet himself, keeping Fugita safe.

Fugita thought that he would almost never need to leave Io, but just in case, he had installed detailed explosives throughout his creation, and had built a spare which was, of course, hidden back in the ninja village. Being as slim as he was, Fugita could use a glider system hidden in his cloak to ride on warm air currents, so he was able to leave Io; and with a small detonation he could escape Io before Io exploded, destroying any evidence of Io's existence along with his enemies. Fearing having to fight alone, Fugita learned to keep his opponents at a distance by using thin steel wires embedded with powdered diamond in a devise on his wrist. The wires go up his fingers, and he is able to control them with his chakra, slicing up his opponent with the "invisible sword".

Fugita was more than a warrior. Being an engineer and inventor, the Kasekage hired Fugita as a teacher as well as a fighter. His skills and knowledge made him a very successful teacher in spite his very young age of 14, but he still liked spending his time tinkering with his inventions instead of spending time with his students. Because of this, he never gained the trust of even his students. Fugita had no friends or teammates that he would fully trust, and this made missions with him very difficult.

With the end of the war between Sand and Leaf villages, the counsel of sand decided to send ninjas to help with the rebuilding of Leaf. Along with sending the infamous Garra of the dessert and his siblings for man power, the ninja village also sent Fugita to help with the intelligence department. When he first entered the village, Fugita was wearing Io, and it was difficult to pass security. Because of his "idiocy", Io was refused entry to the village. After enough arguing, the ninjas guarding the gate sent word to the Hokage about the strange visitor. Tsunade listened to the complaint by one of the guards, and told them to have the stranger escorted by a jonin to her office, suspecting it was the sand ninja that was supposed to get there later that evening. Finally being escorted to the Hokage's office, Fugita waited to be alone before walking Io to the corner and exiting, showing his true form. Leaving Io, Fugita gave his report, saying that he was sent by the counsel of sand to assist the village of leaf until such a time that the village returned to a stable state.

During the meeting, Naruto burst through the door of Tsunade's office, yelling at her about a mission he was to take part in…stating that it was for beginners. Tsunade scolded the orange clad ninja for not knocking, and then sent him away to finish the meeting. Naruto then noticed the sand ninja next to the Hokage's desk, and asked what he was there for. He barely dodged the chair launched at him by the Hokage, then turned and ran out of the room, noticing but not paying attention to the huge "man" in the corner with his huge mouth hanging open. 'Probably the sand ninja's partner' he thought, and then continued to run from the office. The Hokage apologized for the disturbance, and then continued to show Fugita where he would be staying on a map. Fugita asked if he would be able to use the apartment shown as a lab, and he was granted permission, as long as he didn't blow up the building. 'Nobody is a permanent resident in that apartment block, most of them are just come-and-go types trying to keep a low profile,' as stated by Tsunade.


	2. Naruto

It was a normal day, and Naruto had just finished his morning training. He was running down to get his favorite breakfast of ramen, when he ran head first into a mumbling Sakura. "What the hell Naruto!? Watch where you're going!" said Sakura as she started picking up the many parcels she dropped when she hit Naruto. "Sorry about that Sakura," apologized Naruto, "I was just in a hurry to get some ramen." Looking at that stupid grin of his, Sakura shook her head and said, "It's amazing that you could be so nonchalant when I'm going to be busy all day with these errands. I won't even have time to train with the Hokage." Naruto saw this as an opportunity to gain points with Sakura, and asked if he could help her with her chores. "Really!?" she said. "If you could take half of these, it'd clear me plenty of time." She handed Naruto a small stack of parcels, all wrapped up in brown paper. "Just take them where it says on the package, ok?"

"No problem. You can count on me! This will be done in no time! Maybe afterwards, you and I could…" Sakura had already left, and Naruto just sighed. "Oh well." He started to deliver the packages. First was a bag of medicinal herbs for the deer feed for Shikimaru's house, then was a large jar of spices for the ramen shop, "mmmm…ramen," then a few new books for the library. After delivering 6 more packages all over Konoha, Naruto was bushed, but he had only one package left, and he had to finish what he promised Sakura he would.

The package was addressed to an old part of Konoha that Naruto never really visited. It was old and run down for the most part, and you would go there if you wanted cheap labor or the like. When he reached the address, it was an old apartment building. Naruto went to the front desk and rang the bell. An older man approached the register and asked if Naruto wanted a room. "No, actually I have a package for one of your renters. Can you give this to whoever is in room 23?" The runner of the front desk looked at him for a second, then turned away saying,

"Just take it up yourself. It's upstairs, second door on your left." Naruto thanked the man half-heartily then went to find the room. Once he found it, he knocked slightly hard because of the loud buzzing coming from within.

After there was no answer, Naruto knocked again, this time yelling, "Hey! Is anybody home?" After he said this, the buzzing stopped, and he heard foot steps approaching the door. The person who answered was defiantly a character. He couldn't have been much older than Naruto, but he was defiantly taller and leaner. He was very pale with white hair, and was covered in grease. He wore no shirt, but had on torn black pants with many pockets, black boots, probably steel toed, with a belt of tools, and a pair of thick goggles on his head.

"Can I help you with something?" the guy asked in a sort of low quiet voice.

Naruto held out the package. "I think this is for you. It was given to me by Sakura, who works in the main building in town." The guy took the package and gave it a shake. With the sound of metal pieces hitting one another, he placed it under his arm and muttered a small thanks before turning to go back inside. Out of curiosity, Naruto caught the door and asked the pale man what he was doing, and what the package was.

The guy looked at Naruto, and said, "You ask a lot of questions…what do you want?"

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto simply said, "I just was curious. I've never seen you before, and I've been carrying that package all day. It's heavy for such a small parcel. Are you making something?"

The guy was about to insist for Naruto to leave, when an audible growl was heard from the boy's stomach. "Oh, I guess you're hungry and want me to feed you since you delivered the package, am I right?" The guy said sarcasticly.

Naruto was about to speak, stopped, then said, "Well I was just going to go have some ramen, but since you offered, sure!" 'Damb' thought the man, 'I should have kept my mouth shut.' He opened his door the rest of the way, making room for Naruto to enter. He had covered his dolls with sheets before opening the door, and they were out of sight. When Naruto looked around, he felt a little uneasy. There was no furniture, only a fridge and stove. 'Maybe all of the chairs and stuff are in the other room.' thought Naruto. As the tall pale guy was about to start fishing through the fridge, Naruto felt more and more nervous. As he was just about to leave, an apple was thrown in his direction. He caught the fruit, and then just stared at the man. The man had bitten into his apple, and then while still holding it in his teeth, started to work on a small motor-like-thing on the counter. Naruto started to eat the apple, but couldn't look away from the thing in the man's hands.

Then he realized, "Hey, what's your name?" The man didn't even look up, and mumbled into the apple in his mouth, something inaudible. "What was that?"

The man took the apple from his mouth, looked at Naruto, and said, "Fugita. That's my name."

"Oh," was all Naruto could say. After a slight pause, he said, "My name's Naruto. I'm going to become the Hokage someday!" Fugita grunted his recognition with the apple back in his mouth, again working on the small machine. Feeling awkward, Naruto started tapping his foot, looking around at nothing in particular.

"While your standing there, would you mind handing me the glue by your foot?" Naruto looked down, and found a small jar of blue goop. He brought it to Fugita, who thanked him, and started to apply the gunk to a small plastic tank, which he stuck onto a pipe protruding from the machine.

"What is that?" asked Naruto.

Fugita looked at Naruto for a split second, then said, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, just a motorized pump." Naruto then walked toward the door and thanked Fugita for the food, even if it was small. As he started to open the door, there was a knock.

"Should I get that?" asked Naruto. A slight nod from Fugita, and Naruto opened the door to find a slightly out of breath Sakura.

"Naruto? What are you doing here!?" Naruto explained the package, and said it was she who told him to deliver it. "But you weren't supposed to…I mean…grrr!" Sakura pushed Naruto aside and walked partly into the room. "My apologies Gon-sama. I was supposed to deliver your package myself, but accidentally gave it to Naruto."

Fugita stood up from his work, then explained to her, "It's ok Sakura-chan, just make sure it doesn't happen again. If you would please explain the situation to Naruto and make sure he stays quite, I would be much obliged."

Sakura gave a short bow then led a confused Naruto out into the street. She there quietly explained that Fugita was a ninja from Sand whose identity must remain a secret. Naruto's accidental visit could have blown his cover, and he would have left, and Konoha would no longer have him for his aid. Understanding a little about what was said, Naruto offered to deliver any further packages to Fugita, and promised never to speak a work of it to anybody. "You'll have to talk to Tsunade-sama about that. For now, you can treat me to lunch." The two ninjas walked to the ramen shop, and Fugita continued his work.


	3. Test for Lee and Tenten

It was getting late, and Lee was still kicking at the large stump at training ground 3. He knew he would need sleep, but he couldn't just stop. He had failed to beat Gai Sensei in a 20 lap race around Konoha and had to finish kicking the training pole 5000 times with extra weights like he promised himself. "3567…3568…3569…3570…" he would have continued, but he was forced to stop and dodge a large kunai that was aimed for his side. When he turned to see where the kunai had come from, he was not surprised to see his partner and comrade Tenten sitting in a nearby tree. "It's getting really late Lee!" she cried out, "We have a long mission tomorrow and I don't want you to have to sleep-walk the entire trip!" Lee was about to argue, but he could see by the number of shuriken in her hand that she really didn't want to. He decided that he would double the amount of kicks when he had some spare time, and walked to the tree Tenten was in.

"Would you care for an escort home? It's on the was toward my place."

The weapons master jumped down from the branch she was on and told him, "I'm taking you all the way to your apartment to make sure you actually go there instead of coming back here once you ditch me." And with that she started walking toward the center of Konoha. Lee decided that he would keep the weights on until he got to his place to shower, then he would wear the extra weights on the mission as well. If he was slowed down by the weight, he would climb the mountain face with one hand!

Tenten and Lee walked together in silence for the most part. Usually they would be at least talking if not arguing about something, but it was quite late, and Tenten had a headache. While passing by the now closed ramen shop, Lee stopped and grabbed Tenten by the arm then quickly shushed her before she could say anything. He thought he saw someone or something on the roof just ahead. Now that they had stopped, Lee couldn't see anything on the roof but decided to be on the careful side. "I think we might be being watched," whispered Lee to Tenten, "so keep your eyes and ears open." Tenten looked just a bit nervous for a second, and after taking just a few steps she to saw something. She quickly grabbed the back of Lee's head and pushed it down, making him just dodge a knife flying towards him. With a quick second look, Tenten saw a bomb note on the knife, and both she and Lee jumped at the alley way, just missing the blunt of the blast.

As the debris and dust started clearing up, Fugita could see that Tenten and Lee were both fine and now armed. He grinned to himself. He thought that this test the Hokage came up with would prove too difficult for the Gennins of the village, but so far they seemed very capable. Looking down at the students from a nearby roof, Fugita now thought it would be a good time for them to meet their sparing partner for the night.

A flash and small popping sound from behind made Lee jump and turn back-to-back with Tenten too see what it was. He was face-to-face with a wall of grayish smoke, and he was trying his best to see past it. Tenten was still focusing where the first knife had come from, knowing that Lee would be better dealing with new threats while she would be able to notice any long distance attackers easier. As Lee tried and tried to see into the smoke, he finally began to see a form of a man. "Tenten, there's someone in the smoke. I may need your help in a bit." The shadow from within the smoke took a step forward, and what Lee saw was not what he had expected at all. Standing about 20 feet away was a 6' White Samurai, full with sword and mask. "Tenten I need your help now!" Tenten looked around and gasped at the sight. Before they could say anything, the two ninja were forced to move away as the samurai drew its sword. Kunai in hand, Lee yelled at the samurai, "What do you want? We don't want to fight!" The samurai either didn't hear or care, but it instantly started to attack.

The first strike was easily dodged by Lee, and Tenten jumped back to get to a safer range. Lee barley had time to think before he was dodging the next swing of the samurai's sword. Swing after swing, the samurai seemed to be fixed on killing Lee and nothing else, which gave Tenten a good chance to prepare a good counterstrike. She kept moving so that Lee was always between her and their attacker, and waited to get a clear shot over Lee's head. Lee knew what Tenten was thinking because they had used this strategy many times when Neji wasn't around to save their asses, and he was trying to help as much as possible by keeping low to the ground. Finally, the samurai made a mistake and tried to bring his sword down through Lee's head instead of swinging side to side. This strike was easily caught by Lee in a clapping motion, and the sword was now stuck in his great strength. With the samurai's weapon now stuck and Lee's head out of the way, Tenten was free to throw her shuriken and kunai at te samuria. Without time to dodge, the enemy took the attack full force, and Lee let go of the sword at the moment of impact sending the samurai flying back from the pressure.

The swordsman hit the wall of the ramen shop, and then balanced himself with his sword. It was the first time Lee and Tenten could actually look at their opponent clearly without any smoke. The samurai was well armed with two swords and a naginata, and had a great white mane. His armor looked very thick and sharp, with bladed helmet and sharp points protruding from the shoulder guards. The mask covered his entire face, so there was no way of identifying him, and his eyes were completely shadowed.

It was only a second before the samurai was back on his feet and looked ready to attack again. It seemed the armor was even thicker than Tenten realized, because some of the kunai she threw had broke on impact. Some of the shuriken seemed to have hit him in the joints, and hopefully that will slow him down enough that Lee will be able to take care of him without having to break through any gates.

The samurai, however, did not seem to go any slower than before. Just as fast as his last attacks, the samurai again went for a downwards swing at Lee's head. Lee was confused for a second, thinking that the samurai should have known by now that that move didn't work, but was able to catch the blade yet again. It was to Lee's surprise when the samurai jumped over him, leaving him with the sword, and ran at Tenten. Tenten, who was prepared to continue long distance fighting, could only throw the shuriken she had and dodge the naginata being thrust at her. She was able to summon a three-section staff and block the next series of blows, but the samurai, even though he didn't seem as great a weapons master as Tenten, was much stronger.

Lee sat up from where he was crouching with the samurai's sword in hand. He quickly turned to see Tenten fighting with a staff against the samurai, and stood up, wondering how they can defeat this enemy. Then he looked at the sword in his hand and grinned, 'I guess we'll just have to fight fire with fire,' he thought to himself. Tenten by this time had waited for the samurai to thrust his naginata into the wall of a small shop, just missing her, and then used her staff to break the handle. She then kicked him to a distance just right to use the three-section staff to its full power, smashing it into his head and sending him flying. The enemy was able to steady himself and land on his feet, but before he could draw his second sword, the first one was sliced through his shoulder by Lee from behind. The samurai stopped and fell to the ground face up. Lee let go of the sword, and left it in the shoulder of the samurai. He waited for a second, and then looked to Tenten. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Is he dead?" Lee looked at the body on the ground, and seeing that it was not breathing, felt its neck for a pulse.

Feeling none, Lee walked to Tenten and said, "He's dead. Now I think we should report this directly to the Hokage. We can't be sure that there aren't any others."

Tenten looked at the samurai on the ground and said, "What should we do with him now?"

They both turned to look at the body, then took a step towards it. Lee then said, "Maybe I could find the Tsunade-sama while you watch the body. I don't think we could carry him without removing the armor, but I also don't want to leave you here when there might be others." After a small talk, they decided that it was best to remover the samurai's armor and see who it was, then take the body with them to the Hokage.

As Lee was about to reach for the mask, the mouth of it opened, and six kunai flew out at Tenten. She was able to block half of them with the kunai she had, but she was not expecting the attack and took the other three in the chest and shoulder. Before Lee could strike back, the samurai was on his feet and glided back 30 feet. Lee had to stop, blink, and think about what he just saw. The samurai _glided_ back…not walked, not jumped, but _**glided**_. It was as if he just stood there, and something pulled him back without him moving. In his confusion, he almost forgot that his teammate was injured. He turned and ran back to Tenten to check and make sure she was ok. When he got to her, she had already pulled out the knives and looked ready for another counter attack, but Lee whispered to her, "Be my backup. I'm going to give it to him hard." When Tenten looked at Lee, he was taking off all the weights he was wearing and then started to undo the wraps on his arms. She gave Lee a slight nod then took a step forward towards the samurai who had been waiting for them to make a move. The samurai had taken the sword out of his shoulder and was holding it strait forward in a kendo position. When Lee was ready, he stepped in front of Tenten and got ready to break open the first two gates. Lee ran forward in a burst of speed and started circling the samurai. Tenten noticed that even though Lee was circling him at great speeds, the samurai never tried to follow him with his eyes, but instead just continued to look in Tenten's direction. The samurai then drew his second sword and held them to his sides pointing left and right. 'I guess he wants to try and defend himself from more than one direction with Lee. Smart, but he doesn't know who he's dealing with.' Tenten thought to herself. Lee was watching the samurai and quickly thought to strike from the front. It was more likely that the samurai wasn't watching his front as much as his other sides, knowing that they would be more open to attack. Tenten watched as her teammate broke the circle and kicked the armored man right in the chin, sending flying upwards. She definitely heard a crack and the samurai's head went flying back so far that she almost knew Lee had broken the enemy's neck. Even if Lee knew this, Tenten thought that he wouldn't be taking any chances and finish the primary lotus, and she was right. As Lee continued to kick the samurai into the air, both the swords were dropped, but Lee still didn't trust that the samurai was finished. The wraps on Lee's arms spun around the samurai, and soon his arms were completely tied up. Tenten knew that the samurai was finished when Lee began spinning and falling upside down, but then something happened. Lee screamed in pain and dropped the samurai, flying off and away in mid-air.

Both Lee and the samurai landed on their feet, but Lee was forced to kneel down out of pain, while the samurai tore off the rest of the wrappings he was still tied in. Tenten quickly ran to Lee, and saw that his arms were full of holes. Looking at the samurai, it became obvious as to why. The spikes on the shoulder guards had tripled in length, and other blades and spikes had also protruded through his back. Tenten then remembered the supposedly broken neck, and tried to see the samurai's face to look for any damage. There was a large crack all the way down the mask, and it seemed the whole head was out of alignment! As she was discovering this, the neck of the samurai just seemed to pop back into place by itself. "I don't think we're dealing with an ordinary samurai Lee!" yelled Tenten, "and I think its getting ready to attack again. Are you still good to fight?"

"I'm fine," said Lee, trying to catch his breath, "but breaking through the gates didn't help any…what should we do?"

Tenten thought about this for a moment, and then said, "You attack the front, and I'll jump up and hit him with everything I've got! Just be sure to get out of the way in time or you're going to be the one bleeding, not him." Lee gave a nod then got up and in front of Tenten. "GO!!" she cried, and Lee ran at the samurai once again.

Tenten pulled out two scrolls from her pouch and sent them flying into the air, swirling into a vortex of paper. Tenten jumped up into the spiraling scrolls and started to pull out weapons from the seals writen on them. Lee was about at the enemy, who was now charging at him as well, when the top half of the samurai jumped up, leaving the legs and waist behind!! Lee had no idea what happened, but before he could think of a reasonable explanation, the belt of the samurai came undone and raised up like a scorpion's tail and attacked. Lee tried to block the attack with his arms, but the belt was sharp and cut him, then slid down and stabbed him in the leg with the end. Lee felt a very unpleasant warm sensation shoot through his leg, and the legs attacking him jumped away and waited. He fell to the ground and found that he couldn't move the stabbed leg anymore, then felt the poison moving into his hips and down the other leg. He didn't know what to do…he was finished.

Tenten was just as surprised as Lee when she saw the torso of the samurai being launched in her direction. Before she could start hurling weapons at it, the samurais hand fell off and a small barrel came out of the limb shooting needles at her. She did her best to deflect them all and was successful, but then the samurai was almost right on top of her, and the missing hand was replaced with a sword! Tenten was lucky to have her scrolls already out, and was able to pull out a kama and block the sword, but as the samurai started to fall, it was able to punch her hard in the gut. Both the samurai and Tenten were now falling back to earth and Tenten wasn't able to attack even once.

When she landed, Tenten looked around for Lee. Seeing him on the ground trying to get up with only his hands, she assumed he wasn't going to be of any use and thought that she should just try and call for back up. The torso of the samurai was floating thirty feet away from her, and it reminded her of the 'ghost' samurai she once fought with Naruto. As she was staring at the samuria's upper half, she didn't notice the lower half of him run around her and under him, reattaching itself in place. Tenten cursed under her breath and was getting ready to run and grab Lee when she heard a very familiar voice yell out, "OK!!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!"

Gai Jumped down from the ramen show roof and landed right next to the samurai, and the samurai just sat down cross-legged and what looked like fall asleep. "What the hell is going on sensei!?" shouted Tenten, "That thing tried to kill us!"

Gai just laughed out loud and said in his loud voice back, "It was all just a test for you and Lee set up by the fifth! You were never in any real danger!"

Tenten just fell over and sighed, "That's Gai sensei for you." Lee however was no longer conscious, and Gai ran over to him and picked him up.

"What did you do to him!?" he yelled.

A voice came from a roof a few shops down, "He's fine, and I just gave him a large dose of anesthetics, nothing someone like him couldn't take." Tenten looked up to see a black cloaked figure jump down from a rooftop and land near Gai and Lee. He was wearing a mask with a skull on it, so she had no idea who he was.

Gai sensei noticed Tenten's looks, and told her, "This is Fugita. He is a ninja from the Land of Sand who was sent here to help us out until Konoha is back on its feet!"

"And it is a secret that he wasn't supposed to tell you." stated Fugita. Gai sensei stopped dead for a second, and then laughed in embarrassment. "Just bring the boy to Tsunade-sama; she'll know what to give him. As for the girl, just explain to her that she mustn't... that she can't tell anyone about me or Watsuki. They both did far better than I expected, and I'll give a full report on this battle and have it on the Hokage's desk by tomorrow afternoon." With that said, Fugita left them in the middle of the street, in the middle of the night, Tenten still as confused as ever.


	4. Mission to rock

Fugita was inside Io for most of the mission. He, Sakura, and Naruto were sent to a mountain village near the hidden village of stone to escort the deliveries of some trading goods. It was an easy mission and Naruto didn't come very willingly. Tsunade told him that he had been on countless over-ranked missions lately and that she wanted him to take it a bit easier for a little while. He was still skeptical about going, so Tsunade told him that, since Orochimaru keeps changing his base of operations, he could ask around the village in the mountains for any information they have.

There were no problems delivering the goods; and Naruto didn't get much information about Orochimaru, but he did get to taste some new ramen flavors with special mountain spices so all was not lost. It would be at least four days until they got back to Konoha, so the ninja trio decided to rest for at least a day in the mountains to get supplies and some well deserved sleep before heading home. Although there were no incidents in the village while they were there, Fugita couldn't shake the feeling of being watched while walking the streets; and it wasn't just because he looked over six feet tall and over four-hundred pounds and everyone was staring.

The next morning, the Konoha ninjas all got up nice and early to leave for their home village. As they left the mountain village, the sun was just rising over the peaks and there was an almost haunting silence throughout the forest. This came as a surprise to Sakura, having expected to hear the birds and other animals waking up. Fugita slowed back a bit in order to get Sakura's attention without raising suspition to anyone who might have been watching. Being that they were walking instead of jumping from tree to tree like they usually did, Sakura was quick to notice that the sound of Io's hands dragging on the ground slowly getting further away, so she checked on him. The look in Io's eyes had not changed, obviously, but the way he walked has, so she knew that somthign must be up. She stopped to stretch to let Io catch up then started walking at his pace. Naruto hadn't noticed and he just walked ahead of both the other members of his team. Sakura was close enough to Io that she could hear Fugita from inside tell her of what he was seeing. "There are no birds chirping this morning. At least not nearby. I think someone is following us and scarring the birds away. Keep your eyes peeled, and when we get to the river at the bottom of this trail, we'll stop to see if we can trick them into showing themselves." Sakura gave a quick nod and then went to catch up to Naruto. She wouldn't tell him of the possible followers just yet, incase he gives away the knowledge the pursuers away.

Fugita kept an eye on their surroundings with the cameras placed all throughout Io's exterior, but never spotted anyone following them. 'I might be just a little paranoid, but I don't want to take any chances.' It was another hour before they came to the river, and Sakura stopped Naruto and said that they should take a small break.

"What?!" stated Naruto rather abruptly. "We've only been walking for like two hours! We should just keep going till we're at least out of these big mountains. Lets keep moving."

Naruto was about to just leave and let the others catch up to him, but Io's great hand caught him before he could. "Stay. Rest here."

Naruto looked questionably at the behemoth, then walked to Sakura and asked, "What's going on Sakura-chan? Do you know something that I don't?" Sakura put a finger to her mouth to hush him, and then quietly told him of the possible pursuers. She then told him that they would soon try and find them, but first they had to pretend to not know that they're there. Naruto looked back at Io and saw that he was just sitting there looking asleep, and then looked back at Sakura. "How are we going to find them?"

We just need to wait a bit. Hopefully they will just make a mistake and we'll see them. If they don't show themselves in about half an hour, we'll do a quick search." Sakura then started to refill the water bottles, trying to look busy while Io and Naruto just stood quietly for a while. Sakura then asked Naruto to start making a fire (and to not look so suspicious), so he went a little ways from the river to find some dead wood. Fugita kept an eye on Naruto through the cameras in Io to see if the ninja following them would attack him once he was alone. The ninjas did not, however, attack. They stayed silent and hidden the entire time the Konoha trio was waiting at the river. Fugita knew that searching for them would be a waist of time at this point, so he decided that the best plan of action would be to follow the river to a clearing he found on the map. The pursuing ninja would then be forced out of the trees if they wished to follow them. He told this to Sakura as quietly as possible, and then just motioned for Naruto to follow so that the plan could be told to him by Sakura.

They followed the river for a few hours, and when Fugita checked the map again he saw that they were almost at the clearing. "Only about another fifteen minutes until we get to the clearing, be ready to attack." he told the others. A half hour passed, and Fugita checked his map again. 'Funny,' he thought, 'I could've sworn we would be there by now. Maybe I was mistaken.' He looked for any more land marks on the map. Once he found one he estimated about a twenty minute hike till the clearing. He told this to Sakura and Naruto, and then they were off again. Another half hour passed, and then after checking the map once more, Fugita knew what was going on. "We're in a genjutsu. Whoever is following us knows our plan and is trying to tire us before we fight. We're going to break the genjutsu all together, and then we may have to fight right now. I don't know where we are right now any more, so be prepared." Both Naruto and Sakura got ready to retract and then release their chakras to break the genjutsu and waited for Fugita to count off. "Ready…NOW!" It was an easy Illusion to break, but when it did, they were all surprised to see that they were no longer even in the woods. They had been led into a deep canyon about thirty feet wide and at least a mile long. They were near the middle and could see both openings, but couldn't see their pursuers.

Naruto was the first to spot the enemy, and pointed him out yelling, "There he is!" The ninja was up hanging to the rock face holding a spear that pointed directly at Naruto. Naruto and Sakura both got ready to fight the enemy, but Io turned around and just in time caught a great boulder as it hurled towards the team. The shock absorbers in Io's arms and the extra padding in the stomach made catching the boulder easy, but it must have weighed well over a ton. Whoever threw this was immensely strong. Io could have thrown the same rock back at whoever threw it, but instead Fugita just put it aside and looked for whoever it was attacking from behind. Out of the stone walls ahead of him walked two more ninjas. On their foreheads were the protectors belonging to the hidden land of Stone. It appeared that they were looking to either lower the number of Konoha soldiers or to pick up some new hostages. Either way, they were going to find it more difficult that they thought. With Io facing the two ninja to one side, and Sakura and Naruto facing the other, Fugita decided to start the offensive. He ran towards the two ninja in front of him and began swinging his arms wildly. 'That should get them to think that Io is an idiotic powerhouse.' thought Fugita. His opponents were two ninjas. One was about six foot one, and the other about five foot six. Fugita noticed that they only appeared to be about sixteen, just a year or two younger than himself, but they seemed to be at a chunin level at least, maybe even jonin. The smaller of the two carried a large brown leather sac on his back and had two strange scoop looking things attached to his arms. One was going across the back of his arm like a shield, and the other was acting like an extension to his hand making a long scoop. It seemed like he could move the scoops into both positions by just spinning his arm in one direction or the other. The larger of the two didn't seem to be armed except for the ordinary weapons pouch on his hip. As he got closer, the larger of the two ninja formed seals quickly with his hands, and then stomped the ground in front of him. As his foot touched the ground, a pillar of stone shot up directly at Io, who was still running hard at the Stone ninja. The pillar hit Io in the chest and sent him flying through the air. The impact shook Fugita a bit but nothing more, and he was able to stable the puppet in mid air, landing on his feet. It seemed now that the large one used his jutsu to maneuver rocks in the ground to strike his opponent, and he was probably the one who threw the bolder. Io's head spun around ninety degrees and took a quick look at Naruto and Sakura. Their enemy has used what looked like an earth clone jutsu and was fighting using the spear. He seemed to be a tiajutsu user, and Naruto and Sakura shouldn't have a problem with that. Turing back to the ninjas fighting him, Fugita saw that the smaller ninja had set down and opened his leather bag. It looked like it was filled with heavily thick reddish clay. He was obviously a lot stronger than he looked if he could carry all of the clay on his back, but Fugita still didn't know what it was used for. As Io was preparing to attack again, Fugita saw the bigger ninja forming more seals. Watching the enemy's hands and feet to see if he can predict the attack, Fugita saw the ninja finish his jutsu, but it seemed to be a defensive jutsu so Io started to again charge at them. The dirt from the ground started to engulf the bigger of the two stone ninja, and it looked like it was forming a suit of armor around him. The armor visibly covered the ninja's head, chest, forearms and legs, making what looked like a heavy and thick suit of rock/clay armor. Once the dirt formed the armor, Fugita heard the big ninja say, "Base armor," in a very deep sounding voice.

Fugita was finally in close range of the stone ninjas and started attacking with Io. As fast as Io was, the now armored ninja was just fast enough to dodge the hits. Fugita thought it was time to show these guys some real speed. Using the hydraulics in Io's arms, Fugita doubled the speed of the next punch and hit right on the money. The ninja fell back, but landed on his feet, the armor on his chest cracked and falling away in small pieces. Io was attacking again when the stone ninja jumped over him and prepared his next jutsu. Io was quick to turn around, just quick enough to not see the other stone ninja now behind him preparing his own attack. Io began walking towards the armored ninja and was just about to barrage him with more powerful punches when he was hit from behind by something hard. Io's padding wasn't enough to stop all of the force, and Fugita knew he would have a large bruise in the morning. He turned on the cameras in Io to look behind him without losing sight of his other enemy, and saw the clay ninja rolling a ball of clay in the scoop on his arm. The ninja then leaned back like a baseball pitcher and threw the ball as hard as he could, the scoop sending it faster than Fugita though possible. Io wasn't fast enough to dodge the ball, but was able to use one arm to add some padding to the back. This attack didn't do as much damage as last time, thankfully, but now Fugita had two ninjas to fight, and they seemed to work pretty well together. The armored ninja had repaired his armor, and then added some more. The armor was now covering more of the body, with boots, a belt of plates protecting his thighs, shoulder guards, more plates from the shoulders protecting the biceps, and a plate protecting the back of the neck. The armor also looked thicker and now had small spikes of rock protruding from it. Fugita heard the ninja say, "Phase two armor." The ninja then went into a guarding position, much like a linebacker in foot ball. Fugita was lost; he didn't know which ninja to focus on. He decided it was time for Watsuki to come out and play.

Io turned his head and showed his stupid grin to the ninja with the scoops. He the opened his huge mouth, allowing Fugita to summon Watsuki from a scroll and launch it outside. To the stone ninja, it looked like Io just threw up a suit of armor, but then the armor jumped up and attacked the smaller, scoop using ninja. The ninja made another clay ball in a hurry and launched it at Watsuki, and knocked of one of the arms, but to the ninja's surprise the samurai just kept going. The first strike was with the sword, but the scoops on the stone ninja's arms seemed to work well as shields.

With Io looking the other way, the armored ninja attempted to tackle the fat puppet. Of course that wasn't going to happen, and Io grabbed the ninja in his oversized hands. Fugita was still trying to focus on Watsuki, so he let Io hold the armored man while he used his free hands from inside to manipulate Watsuki. The stone ninja was indeed strong, and Io had to work hard to keep him in his grasp, but without any leverage, the stone ninja found it very hard to open the great hands that held him.

Watsuki was having problems getting past the guards on the scoop ninja's arms, and tried to distract him and shoot kunai from the mouth. With a swing of the blade, one of the ninja's hands was busy, so Watsuki took its chance. The two kunai that were shot from the mouth did not hit the ninja. In fact, the ninja caught the blades in one of the arm scoops. He then threw back the blades with twice the speed, and Watsuki now had a kunai in the shoulder and face mask. Fugita was starting to worry. Watsuki gad a gear jammed in the shoulder where the kunai hit, and he wasn't sure for how long Io could hold the immensely strong ninja in his hands. That question was answered quickly when the armored ninja broke through Io's grasp, and threw Io into the stone wall. The hydraulics in Io's arms were now busted, and the armored ninja was about to attack again. With his strength, the stone ninja might be able to do some real damage to Io, so Fugita used a poisonous smoke screen ejected from Io's mouth to gain some time. The putrid green smoke blinded the stone ninja for a second, and allowed Io to escape to a safe distance. There was no place to hide a giant like Io, and Watsuki was going down anyways, so Fugita decided to detonate Watsuki and hopefully do some damage while gaining a bit more time to recuperate. Watsuki detonated near the scoop ninja, and with the explosion came a cloud of poisonous gas and an arsenal of weapons flying in all directions.

Fugita couldn't tell what had happened until the gas cleared away, but he took the time he had and looked to see how Naruto and Sakura were doing. It seemed they were doing fine, but they still haven't been able to defeat their enemy. There were about five of the enemy clones against four Naruto clones and Sakura. It wasn't clear who was doing more damage, but at least they were still alive. Io turned his head back to the front and tried to see through the cloud to see his opponents. He could see a boulder, and he thought that the enemy should be in front of it, but they were out of sight. Either they were behind the bolder, or… Io looked up and saw the armored ninja carrying the other up the face of the cliff. The scoop ninja looked badly injured with a few kunai and needles in his chest, and Fugita thought that he wouldn't be able to fight for the rest of the battle. The bigger ninja, however, didn't seem hurt at all. Along with his second phase armor, he was also carrying his comrade up a vertical cliff. He was very strong indeed, and it seemed that the poison didn't affect him as much as it should have. Io began to climb after the two ninja, but without the hydraulics in the arms, he would have a hard time keeping up with the fast climbing ninja.

At the top of the cliff, the tall ninja set down the injured one on the ground. He pulled out the big blades from him and tried his best to stop the bleeding, but he knew he was being followed and didn't have much time. He stopped what he was doing and was forced to vomit to the side. The vomit was bloody and the ninja knew he was in really bad shape. That poison gas was really doing a number on him. He pulled out an antidote from his pouch and fed it to the injured ninja beside him. He was about to address his own wounds, but Io turned out to be a much faster climber than the ninja expected. As Io climbed onto the edge of the cliff, Fugita saw the bloody vomit next to the injured ninja. "I see the poison is finally starting to take affect." Io said in a stupid slured voice.

The tall ninja stood tall and looked Io right in the eye. "You harmed my comrade. I'll make you pay! AAAUUUHHGG!!" The armor on the ninja began to change color from the reddish-brown of the surrounding rocks to a dark grey. The spikes on the armor also grew exponentially. The shoulder spikes were at least two feet long if not three, and the arms now had spikes growing past the fists. It was also much thicker than before and must weigh a ton. With his armor changed again, the ninja said, "Phase three armor. Prepare yourself." With his warning said, the ninja stomped his foot into the ground and a piece of the cliff he was standing on popped out of the ground in front of him. He pushed the boulder towards Io with amazing strength, but Io, even without the hydraulics, was able to catch the rock and keep his balance. Fugita saw the stone ninja run around to the side of Io with great speed and thought, 'Damn, he can't be human and run that fast with that armor on!' Fugita was able to force the rock in Io's hands in front of the stone ninja to use as a shield, but the great strength of the ninja proved too much as the boulder was crushed by the blow and Io was punched off the cliff and smashed into the other side of the canyon. Io fell quite a ways before Fugita was able to stable him and get him to grab the face of the cliff and stop their descent. Looking up, Fugita was shocked to see the stone ninja running strait down the rock wall. The stone ninja started a dive and cried out, "Head Butt!!" Io had no chance and was beat down the cliff once again. The stone ninja stopped his own fall by hanging onto the wall with his hands and feet, and then punched the wall shattering a large section of rock to fall. He then jumped down and across the gap of the cliff and punched the other side as well. He did this two more times jumping down as to stay ahead of the falling rocks. He then stopped his fall and watched the avalanche or falling rock as it headed towards Io. Io had been able to slow his descent by grabbing the rock face again, and was able to land with little damage thanks to the hydraulics in his legs. Fugita did a quick damage check and found that many gears were coming loose and the flesh was peeling off of Io's hands from the friction with the wall. When Fugita looked up to see where the enemy had gone, all he saw were the falling rocks. He did his best to stay on top of the avalanche as it fell by jumping as hard as he could with Io, and he was able to keep Io's head just out of the rocks, but Io was now severely damaged and unable to move. Fugita was screwed.

The stone ninja landed at high speed with the ground, breaking the rock around him and sending up a cloud of dust. He looked at his opponent and saw that Io was not breathing. He would check more thoroughly later, but for now he had to help his friend with the spear. He walked off, unknowingly leaving Fugita alive to plan his next move.

The spearman has been having a lot of trouble with his opponents. Evidently, one of them was very good at making clones out of nothing. The girl, on the other hand, was able to destroy his clones in one shot with a punch that could rival his own teammate. He had so far been able to keep himself alive while keeping the two Konoha ninjas away from the battle with Io, but he didn't know for how long he could continue. Being a tiajutsu user, making clones tired him out, and so far he's been forced to make plenty. His spear kept the Konoha ninjas from getting to close to him, but even the spear was about to break from stress.

The armored ninja charged right into the middle of the battle raging between the leaf and stone ninjas and with a single kick was able to dissipate three of Naruto's clones. Sakura ran up behind the armored ninja, but he had heard her and spun around in time to deflect her deadly punches. He had seen there efficiency from afar and didn't wish to see it up close. He used one hand to hold her fist, and then use the other to grab her around the throat. "Stop the fighting or the girl dies!" he yelled in his deep voice. All of the Naruto clones looked around at Sakura and stopped what they were doing. The spearman was relieved that the fighting had stopped and made sure he was close to his partner while his golems kept a watch on the Naruto clones. "Now," said the armored ninja, "show your real self and get rid of the shadow clones." Naruto was hesitant at first, but when the stone ninja squeezed slightly at Sakura's neck and Sakura whimpered in pain he was quick to dispel the copies.

Naruto walked to the tall ninja and said, "Let her go." With a quick fluid movement, an armored hand hit Naruto across the face, sending him falling to the grown a few feet away. Assured that it was the real Naruto and not just another clone, the armored ninja told his partner to tie him up. Once he was tied in tight, Naruto again told the ninja to let go of Sakura. Being a fair warrior, the armored ninja did let her go, but she to was tied up and placed next to Naruto.

"Is the giant oaf dead?" asked the spearman.

The tall ninja looked back at the rock pile he had made and said, "I think so, but we'd better check to make sure. Incapacitate the prisoners." With that, the spearman took a syringe to the Konoha ninjas and forced a solution of sleeping medicine into their bloodstreams.

"They'll be out in a few seconds, and for a few hours."

The tall ninja looked at the spearman and said, "Good. Now I'm going to check on the other Konoha ninja. I'll make sure he's dead and then comeback to get you. We should hurry, because San is hurt." The spearman nodded his head and went to stand next to the sleeping ninja.

With no sings of visual life, Io looked as good as dead, but he had at least one more attack up his sleeve. Fugita waited until the armored ninja was done checking for breath and a pulse, and then for him to turn and start leaving before he put his attack into action. Io's mouth suddenly opened wide and Fugita was thrown strait up into the air. His Black cloak tore in the back to reveal a glider, and a small explosion of heat from Io's mouth was more than enough to send him flying away. A split second later, the now confused armored ninja spun around and thought to chase after the escaping puppeteer. Before he was able to get far, Io exploded with such force that the rocks holding him down were thrown aside and the armored ninja found himself getting pummeled by the small boulders. The concussion from the blast sent the stone ninja flying back towards where Naruto and Sakura slept, and he was knocked unconscious by the heat and blast mid-air.

After the blast settled, the spearman ninja stood back up from where he had cowered from the blast and looked at his teammate. The armor was chipping off and there was blood coming from his ears, nose, and mouth. He was out cold, and now the spearman was alone. He watched as the Black-cloaked figure glided down from the sky and landed halfway between the blast zone and him. The two ninja stood in silence for a few seconds, and it was the spearman who made the first attack. Not being very good at taijutsu, Fugita had no choice but to try and dodge the incoming spear. The stone ninja was much faster that he, so Fugita was taking hits left and right. As a climax to a combo of blows, the spearman raised the spear from the ground and uppercuted Fugita, sending him into the air. From there, the spearman jumped into the air and kicked Fugita down to the ground into a boulder. Fugita had now a broken leg from the fall, many bruised ribs from the non-stop abuse, and his mask was ripped up the front, leaving his eyes temporarily blinded in the bright sun. The spearman, seeing how easy this battle was, underestimated Fugita's skills with his next attack. Instead of keeping a distance or attacking from a blind spot, the stone ninja just ran strait at the wounded puppeteer, planning on running him through without a struggle. Fugita, however, had different plans. At the last moment, he leapt on top of the boulder and threw out his cutting wires. The spear broke on the rock, and when the stone ninja tried jumping away, Fugita pulled the wires taught with his hands and teeth. He pulled so hard that his gums were bleeding, but it paid off when the spearman ninja's head was cut off.

Fugita ran to Naruto and Sakura and found that Sakura was still awake, fighting for her life to stay that way. Fugita quickly untied her hands so that she could use an antidote on herself and then heal Naruto. In a few minuets, the team was on their feet, and Naruto asked what they should do with the stone ninja that attacked them. Fugita was about to answer, but a sound from behind him made him turn around. The tall ninja, no longer clad in his stone armor, stood slouching holding one of his arms. His breathing was forced, and he didn't look like he could fight, but that kind of thinking killed the spear ninja, so Fugita prepared to battle. The tall ninja shook his head. "You don't stand a chance without you toys." Fugita assumed that he was referring to Io and Watsuki, and knew that it was true. "So what do we do now?" asked Fugita to the stone ninja. The tall ninja looked at Naruto and Sakura and saw that he could never win against them in his condition. Using the third phase armor left his chakra low and the blast did something to his ears and he was way off balance. "We attacked you because you entered our territory. We tried just leading you away, but you found out and broke the illusion. We couldn't let you see us and leave incase you told anybody about the village."

Sakura thought about what the tall ninja just said and sighed. 'He may be big, but he's not very smart. We didn't know of any village until he told us about it just now' she thought. The tall stone ninja looked at the trio from Konoha and said, "I can't just let you leave, but my teammate needs medical attention. I can't leave him there for long or he's going to die."

Sakura had an idea. "Well why don't I take care of him until he's good enough to travel, then you let us go. I am a medic, and I'm sure you can talk us into not telling anyone about any villages. We'll just put it all behind us, what do you say?" The tall ninja wasn't the brightest in this kind of situation, but he knew his friend was dieing and that she might be able to help him. It was worth the risk. He agreed to the terms and brought the trio up the cliff to where his friend was lying. He had lost consciousness since Io and the tall one were there last, but Sakura assured everyone that he would be fine. The antidote the tall ninja gave him seemed to slow the poison considerably, and removing it was unnecessary since Fugita had the antitoxin with him. After a minute of cleaning wounds, Sakura wiped her forehead and turned to the tall ninja to tell him that his friend was ok. Before she could say anything, she noticed the clouded eyes and very forced breathing of the stone ninja. "Are you all right?" she asked him, concerned. Unable to answer, the tall ninja started to lose consciousness. The toxin from Io was taking a slow affect on him and after forcing himself to climb up the cliff again; he was unable to fight the poison any longer.

When he awoke, the stone ninja was in a tent. He tried to sit up, but he was tied to the floor. He could see that it was dark outside and that there was a fire going outside of the tent. The voices he heard were not of his teammates but of the Konoha ninja. Had he been taken hostage? He was having trouble thinking clearly, and soon fell back into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
